Ingot manipulator for a rolling mill

ABSTRACT

An ingot manipulator for use with a rolling mill has a pair of elongate manipulator heads arranged on opposite sides of a roller table on the entry side of the mill, the heads being displaceable transverse to their length towards and away from each other and one of the heads has on the side thereof facing the other head a plurality of tilting fingers, the fingers are arranged in at least two groups positioned side-by-side on the head and drive means are provided for operating fingers to tilt ingots arranged in tandem on the roller table. Means are also provided by which the fingers of one group are operable independently of the fingers of the other group or groups so that if all the fingers are initially operated together to tilt two or more ingots and one ingot fails to tilt then the group of fingers associated with that ingot can be operated independently of the other fingers to bring about tilting of that ingot.

United States Patent Sturdy 5] July 1 1, 1972 s41 INGOT MANIPULATOR FOR A FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS ROLLING MILL I 46,415 I l/ I962 Poland ,.2 l 4/! Q6 [72] Inventor: Clifford Sturdy, Chesterfield, England Prima Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza [73] Ass'gnee: Buy and United! Engineer! mu Examiner-Frank E. Werner Limited, YorkshIre, England A'wmey Hemy c. wcsun [22] Filed: Nov. 23, 1970 2| Appl. No.: 92,015 [57] SING An ingot manipulator for use with a rolling mill has a pair of i n i n elongate manipulator heads arranged on opposite sides of a [30] F AP roller table on the entry side of the mill, the heads being dis- Nov. 21, l969 Great Britain ..56,998/69 placeable transverse to their length towards and away from each other and one of the heads has on the side thereof facing [52] US. Cl. 06, 198/33 AC the other head a plurality of fingers, the fingers are ar. lnt. t t t t "B658 ranged in at least two groups positioned side-by.side on the [58] Field of Search l98/33 AD, 33 AC; 214/ I Q, head and drive means are provided f operating fingers to m 2 1 0G ingots arranged in tandem on the roller table. Means are also provided by which the fingers of one group are operable inde- [56] References cited pendently of the fingers of the other group or groups so that if UNITED STATES PATENTS the fingers are initially operated together to tilt two or more ingots and one Ingot fails to tilt then the group of fingers as- 97l,740 10/1910 Fawelln [98/33 AD X soeiated with that ingot can be ope ated independently of the $47,274 3/1923 Benlamm other fingers to bring about tilting of that ingot. 2,238,434 4/1941 3,237,784 3/1966 McGeeney et al. ..2 14/ 1 Q6 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures INGOT MANIPULATOR FOR A ROLLING MILL This invention relates to ingot manipulators suitable for use with a rolling mill.

In order to increase the efiiciency of the rolling of metal ingots in a rolling mill it is desirable for the ingots waiting to be rolled to be arranged in tandem on the ingoing side of the mill thereby enabling them to be rolled one after the other with the minimum of delay. It is well known to provide a pair of ingot manipulators on the side of the mill from which the ingots enter the gap between the mill rolls and manipulators are displaceable towards and away from the entry path of the ingots into the mill and serve to position the ingots ready for entry into the mill. It is also known for one of manipulators to be provided with fingers which can be operated to tilt the ingots in order to present a chosen pair of opposite faces of the ingots to the mill rolls. It sometimes occurs that when operating the tilting fingers for a pair of ingots in tandem that only one of the ingots tilts to present the chosen pair of faces to the mill rolls and the other ingot does not tilt correctly. If it is the ingot nearest to the mill which does not tilt correctly then the other ingot has to be reversed out from between the manipulators whilst the first ingot is manipulated again. If it is the ingot furthest from the mill which does not tilt correctly then this ingot has to be reversed out from between the manipulators and can only be returned between the manipulators for the tilting operation to be performed after the first ingot has been passed between the mill rolls. In both events this results in the lengthening of the time taken to roll the ingots.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a manipulator for a rolling mill in which the above-mentioned difficulties can be overcome.

According to the present invention an ingot manipulator suitable for use with a rolling mill comprises a pair of elongate manipulator heads displaceable transverse to their length towards and away from each other with one of the heads having on the side thereof facing the other head a plurality of tilting fingers each with an ingot engageable portion, said fingers being arranged in at least two groups positioned side-by-side on the head, drive means for operating the fingers, and means by which the fingers of one group are operable independently of the fingers of the other group or groups.

Preferably each group of fingers has separate drive means for operating the fingers of that group and means are provided for coupling the drive means together whereby all'the fingers are operable simultaneously.

With this arrangement the fingers of one group are arranged to engage one ingot and the fingers of another group to engage a second ingot arranged in tandem with the first ingot on the entry roller table of a rolling mill. On displacement of both groups of fingers, the two ingots are tilted over through 90 on the table. If, when the tilting operation is performed, one of the ingots does not tilt correctly then the tilting fingers associated with that ingot can be operated again independently of the other fingers to bring about the required tilting of that ingot whilst the other ingot, which has been tilted, is unaffected.

In order that the invention will be more readily understood it will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically an ingot manipulator associated with a rolling mill,

FIG. 2 is a plan view with parts broken away of one head of an ingot manipulator according to one embodiment of the invention and FIG. 3 is a side elevation of part of the manipulator shown in FIG. 2 with parts broken away.

The rolls of a rolling mill for rolling hot metal ingots are indicated in FIG. 1 by reference numeral 1. On the ingoing side of the mill there is provided an ingot manipulator having manipulator heads 2 and 3. The heads are of elongate form and are displaceable by means (not shown) transverse to their ingot into the roll gap. Manipulator head 2 carries a plurality of fingers 4 which are arranged in two groups 5 and 6. A further manipulator having manipulator heads 7 and 8 is positioned on the outgoing side of the mill. This manipulator is not provided with tilting fingers.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings which illustrate mainly the head 2 of the manipulator on the ingoing side of the mill, the manipulator heads 2 and 3 extend normal to the longitudinal axes of a plurality of driven rollers 10 which constitute an entry table for the ingots to the mill. The manipulator head 2 is supported by a pair of beams 11 which are displaceable axially by means (not shown) to displace the head towards and away from the head 3. A table structure 12 extending substantially the entire length of the head 2 is rigidly mounted on the beams 11. The head 3 is supported on a pair of beams 13 which extend beneath the structure 12 and are also displaceable axially by means not shown. A plurality of fingers 4 each having an ingot engageable portion 4A are located in slots 14 provided in the head 2 on the side thereof facing head 3. The ingot engageable portions 4A of the fingers are shown in FIG. 3 to lie below the upper surface of the rollers 10. Three of the fingers 4 are arranged in one group at one end of the manipulator head and another group of three fingers are located towards the other end of the head.

The upper ends of the fingers 4 are pivotally connected to individual links 15 and the links associated with one group of fingers are non-rotatably mounted on a shaft 16 while the links associated with the other group of fingers are non-rotatably mounted on a further shaft 17. The shafts 16 and 17 are rotatably mounted in bearings 18 supported on the table 12. The table 12 has a plurality of downwardly extending lugs 19 which support in pivotal manner a pair of rocker arms 20. One end of one of the arms 20 is pivotally connected to a link 21 which in turn is pivotally connected to a lever 22 nonrotatably secured to the shaft 16. The other rocker anns 20 is similarlyconnected to a lever 23 non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 17. The lower ends of the rocker anns 20 carry rollers 24 which engage with a pair of oscillatory tables 25. The tables 25 are mounted on separate eccentrics 26. The eccentrics form part of a pair of camshafts 27 and each shaft includes further eccentrics 28. The eccentrics 28 are connected by means of connecting rods 29 to bell crank levers 30. One limb of each lever is connected to the connecting rod '29 and the other limb of the lever is connected through a link 31 to one end of the table 25. The crankshafts 27 are rotated by means of separate electric motors and gear boxes 32 and 33 and extensions on the two crankshafts carry separate parts of a two part coupling 34. When the coupling is engaged the two crankshafts are rotatable together and on disengaging the coupling the two shafts can be rotated separately from their respective motors.

Considering now the operation of the crankshaft driven by the motor 32, on rotation of the shaft rotation of the eccentric 26 raises and lowers the table 25 and rotation of the eccentric 28 acting through the linkage 31 and the bell crank lever 30 raises the link by the same amount. Consequently, as the crankshaft is rotated the table 25 is raised and lowered but its upper surface remains substantially horizontal.

When a pair of ingots are to be rolled in tandem the ingots are brought along to the rollers 10 to a position where the ingots are aligned with the two groups of fingers 14. The manipulator heads 2 and 3 are displaced transverse to the length of the roller table to position the ingots on the entry side of the mill. When the manipulator head 2 is displaced by the beams 11 the rollers 24 on the rocker arms 20 roll along the tables 25. Preferably the two ingots are tilted simultaneously and to this end the two parts of the coupling 34 are connected so that the two crankshafts 26 and 27 are operated together. On operation of the shafts the rocker arms 20 are pivoted by the tables 25 and through the links 21 and 15 the tilting fingers are lifted in the slots 14. The ingot engageable portions 4A on the fingers engage with the under side of the ingots causing them to tilt on the roller table. In the event of one of the ingots tilting correctly and the other ingot failing to tilt, the coupling 34 is disengaged so that the fingers of each group are actuated through their respective drive motor. The tilting fingers which are associated with the ingot which failed to tilt are then actuated again in order to bring about tilting of the ingot and the fingers associated with the ingot which has tilted correctly are not operated again.

With the manipulator in accordance with this invention the difficulty of miss-tilting of ingots arranged in tandem is overcome. Without the advantages of the present invention misstilting of ingots arranged in tandem can cause a considerable delay in the rolling of ingots particularly if one of the ingots has to be driven out from between the manipulator heads to permit the other remaining ingot to be tilted. In extreme cases, the ingot which has to be removed from between the heads may cool so much during the waiting time as to warrent returning the ingot to the furnace for reheating before it can be rolled.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, l have explained the principal and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

What I claim is:

1. An ingot manipulator suitable for use with a rolling mill for handling at least two tandemly arranged ingots comprising a pair of elongate manipulator heads displaceable transverse to their length towards and away from each other with one of the heads having a plurality of tilting fingers each with an ingot engageable portion, said fingers being arranged in at least two groups positioned side by side along the length of the head for engagement with different ones of said tandem ingots, each group of fingers having a separate drive means for operating the fingers of that group independently of the other group or groups to displace said ingot engageable portions, and means for coupling said drive means together whereby all said fingers are operable simultaneously.

2. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the head having the fingers associated therewith is slotted on the side thereof facing the other manipulator head and said tilting fingers are positioned in separate slots in the head.

3. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 1 including a plurality of separate shafts, one for each group of tilting fingers, separate drive means for rotating said shafts, and a plurality of links non-rotatable mounted on said shafts with the links associated with one shaft being pivotally connected to the upper ends of respective tilting fingers of one group and the links associated with the other shaft being pivotally connected to the upper ends of the tilting fingers of the other group.

4. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 3 in which said drive means for each group of fingers includes a rockable arm pivotally connected at one end to a link connected to a lever arm extending from the shaft and having a roller at the other end which is supported by a substantially horizontal table, said table being oscillatable in a vertical plane to rotate the shaft.

5. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 4 in which said table is oscillatable by means of an eccentric mounted on a crankshaft, said shaft being rotatable by means of a drive motor.

6. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 5 in which the drive means for each group of tilting fingers includes a separate crankshaft with a two-part coupling carried by the respective parts of the two crankshafts whereby the crankshafts can be operated separately or together. 

1. An ingot manipulator suitable for use with a rolling mill for handling at least two tandemly arranged ingots comprising a pair of elongate manipulator heads displaceable transverse to their length towards and away from each other with one of the heads having a plurality of tilting fingers each with an ingot engageable portion, said fingers being arranged in at least two groups positioned side by side along the length of the head for engagement with different ones of said tandem ingots, each group of fingers having a separate drive means for operating the fingers of that group independently of the other group or groups to displace said ingot engageable portioNs, and means for coupling said drive means together whereby all said fingers are operable simultaneously.
 2. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the head having the fingers associated therewith is slotted on the side thereof facing the other manipulator head and said tilting fingers are positioned in separate slots in the head.
 3. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 1 including a plurality of separate shafts, one for each group of tilting fingers, separate drive means for rotating said shafts, and a plurality of links non-rotatable mounted on said shafts with the links associated with one shaft being pivotally connected to the upper ends of respective tilting fingers of one group and the links associated with the other shaft being pivotally connected to the upper ends of the tilting fingers of the other group.
 4. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 3 in which said drive means for each group of fingers includes a rockable arm pivotally connected at one end to a link connected to a lever arm extending from the shaft and having a roller at the other end which is supported by a substantially horizontal table, said table being oscillatable in a vertical plane to rotate the shaft.
 5. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 4 in which said table is oscillatable by means of an eccentric mounted on a crankshaft, said shaft being rotatable by means of a drive motor.
 6. An ingot manipulator as claimed in claim 5 in which the drive means for each group of tilting fingers includes a separate crankshaft with a two-part coupling carried by the respective parts of the two crankshafts whereby the crankshafts can be operated separately or together. 